Another Day Another Lawsuit

Welcome to The Drip. We’re bringing the 🔥 to get you through the rest of the week. Here’s what’s in store for today:

• Fanatics strikes back ⚔️ 

• Wait PSA authenticates photos? 👀 

1) In a “shocking” turn of events, Fanatics is now suing Panini. The countersuit claims that Panini negotiated in bad faith when Fanatics attempted to end exclusive rights to some of Panini’s licensing agreements in 2022 (they would otherwise expire in or after 2025). A deadline was set but Panini dragged their feet and gave a hyper inflated future revenue forecasts that effectively torpedoed the deal (to end the agreements Fanatics would have to pay the future revenue amount).

Fanatics is seeking damages that will “remedy Panini’s unfair competition, tortious interference with business relations, and breach of duty to negotiate in good faith.” Round and round we go 😵… I’m sure we definitely won’t see this same story play out over the next few years, over and over and over and over… again 🤮.

One of the more shocking quotes in this debacle came from Panini’s lawyer David Boies: (Panini has an) “undisputed record of innovation, customer service, and financial success.”

Well I guess we’ll just have to agree to disagree Mr. Boies. Also, to see who else disagrees (and if you want some real laughs), check out the lawsuit transcript for this countersuit (focus on pages 69-101). It’s a tweet storm of hatred for Panini.

Oh and this gem (I’m lawsuit famous!):

2) An interesting discussion came up between @dpeck100, @biggsdaddycool and myself the other day on Twitter (or “X” as no one likes to call it). PSA has a service to authenticate and determine the “type” of a photo sent to them (this service began in 2006).

So… What the heck is a photo type and how do they do this? Don’t worry, I’ve got ya covered 😎.

1) What is a photo “type?” There are actually 4 levels of classification PSA uses when evaluating photo authenticity:

• Type 1 - This is a photo that was taken from the original negative within 2 years of when the original picture was taken. So this is the 🐐, the one you want.

• Type 2 - Taken from the original negative but 2 years after when the original photo was taken. Still authentic and valuable but not completely original.

• Type 3 - This is a 2nd generation photo. Meaning it was taken from a duplicate negative or wire transmission within 2 years of when the original photo was taken.

  • Quick rabbit hole - wire transmission photos gained popularity in the 1920s. The technology was designed as a way to send photos over a wire and across the Atlantic Ocean. Essentially it was a fax machine before faxes were invented 📠.

• Type 4 - A 2nd generation photo (or 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc…) taken from a duplicate negative or wire transmission 2 years after the original photo was taken.

2) So how exactly does PSA authenticate a photo? A lot has to do with the characteristics of the paper 📜.

• PSA has giant libraries of photo paper samples that they catalog against to determine the time period when the picture was taken

  • Characteristics such as border coloring, thickness, style of the paper, and corners of the photo all can indicate the time frame they were taken.

• Powerful microscopes are on hand to ensure the finer details of the paper and other features can be investigated.

• They have a catalog of photo agency stamps which researchers can authenticate against (stamps often appear on old photos).

• PSA has some of the best authenticators in the business

  • The photo authentication group was founded by Henry Yee and Marshall Fogel who wrote the book A Portrait of Baseball Photography in 2005. These guys are experts.

So now when your friend shows you a photo you can drop some authentication knowledge on him. And you didn’t think you’d learn anything today...

BREAKing News

Some hits from recent days:

• This last box was just unreal

• Arch deluxe followed by a KG! (some other awesome cards in this video too)

• Nice Hurts hit

• And again with 2 more awesome pulls

• Has to be seen to be believed

• Sylveon 2x

• Ton of hits in this box but this Inquisitor sketch is awesome

Release Calendar

Wallets = ☠️:

• Today!

  • 2022 Panini National Treasures Football

  • 2023/24 Upper Deck MVP Hockey

• 11th -

  • 2022/23 Panini Mosaic Basketball

  • 2023 Topps Star Wars

  • Pokemon Scarlet & Violet Obsidian Flames

• 15th - 2023 Panini Chronicles Racing

• 16th - 2023 Panini Immaculate Collegiate Football

• 23rd -

  • 2023 Panini Immaculate Baseball

  • 2023 Panini Chronicles Racing

• 30th -

  • 2023 Topps Allen & Ginter Baseball

  • 2023 Panini Donruss Elite Football

  • 2023 Panini Encased Football

  • 2023 Panini Prizm WNBA Basketball

  • 2023 Topps Cosmic Chrome

  • 2023 Topps Chrome Star Wars Galaxy

Show Me That Card 📷️ 

The 1985 Nike Michael Jordan Promo card. This thing is a beauty. Using the same image as found on posters Nike sent to apparel shops - this card displays MJ in red and black going for a dunk with the Chicago skyline in the background. It’s pure “chef’s kiss.”

Fun fact: Jordan wasn’t even really dunking, he just jumped straight up into the air for the picture.

If you are interested in learning more about this and other MJ cards, I highly recommend checking out the Jordan’s Cards website.

Meme of the Day

Boy were they missing out…